


Early Bird Gets The...

by 50_points_for_ravenclaw



Series: BINGO [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha!Stiles, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Derek Wears Glasses, Fluff, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega!Derek, but no actual sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 20:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6722806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50_points_for_ravenclaw/pseuds/50_points_for_ravenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now, Derek wasn’t opposed to dating. He wouldn’t deny that the idea of having someone to cuddle with while they watched Netflix sounded quite appealing, but he had strong reservations when it came to the who part of his binge-watching partner. He had a strict rule: no alphas. Unfortunately, this rule severely limited his dating pool. </p>
<p>There weren’t many omegas willing to date another omega and betas tended to stick to their own gender.</p>
<p>And then there was Stiles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Early Bird Gets The...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smokesforsterek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokesforsterek/gifts).



The library was a quiet, modest place usually only occupied by a few people at a time (except during exam weeks when every chair on campus was filled with someone slowly sinking into sleep-deprived madness). Derek was lucky to have gotten a job at one of the less popular ones on campus rather than one the likes of Moffitt or Gardner. The Albert Claude Library of Biology was considerably smaller and located on the outskirts of campus. Its limited academic resources were enough to deter students if they managed to walk that far out.

He didn’t even mind having to work night shifts.

Sometimes, Boyd or Isaac would come visit him (the only ones who were actually awake at 2am), sitting behind the counter to watch him check in books because, who else was there to get them in trouble? Derek didn’t really have the energy to fight them on it. They were bound to win anyways.

Most nights he ended up alone, though. The quiet was soothing and gave him plenty of time and space to work on his dissertation whenever inspiration struck or mess around on the internet when it didn’t. A student would show up here or there during his shift but they mostly ignored him and shacked up at a table with their laptop and a big thermos of coffee to be found asleep, drooling against their notebook at 6a.m. on Derek’s way out.

All in and all—it was the perfect job.

Then he met Stiles Stilinski.

It was a night like any other Wednesday night (or Thursday morning to be precise) and Derek had just settled into a game of solitaire on his laptop behind the counter when the sliding glass doors opened and a couple of students swiped their cards through the turnstiles, heading to a table against the far wall. Derek only bothered a glance, a quick sniff (two alphas…great), and an eye roll when one of them tripped over a desk chair and almost went sprawling across the floor. Then he turned back to his game and tuned them out.

Or tried to at least.

“I literally don’t see any reason for me to be here right now.”

Derek glanced over out of the corner of his eye, watching as the clumsy one slumped into his seat, forehead falling to thump against the table. His companion sat down far more gracefully, tucking her skirt beneath her legs as she eased into her chair and then leaned over to flick him on the nape of his neck.

“I need your help,” she said primly.

The boy scoffed. “You don’t need my help. You have _never_ needed my help with _anything_.”

“Stiles. Would you just stop complaining and go find these books for me please?”

Derek watched with reluctant interest as she held a slip of paper out toward the other alpha, staring at him relentlessly until he groaned, snatched it from her grasp, and shuffled toward the bookshelves. He didn’t miss the small smirk of triumph that she gave her laptop.

It didn’t take long for the guy to stroll up to the counter and tap at its surface with long fingers.

“Uh…hey,” he said.

Derek closed his eyes for a long moment, inhaling long and deep before turning to face him. Up close, his scent was much stronger, tinged with sugar and sweat and Derek had to force himself not to find it actually sort of pleasing. He raised his brows without a word.

“Um…I need help finding one of these.”

The guy held up the slip of paper his friend had given him, pointing to one of the titles. Derek stared at him long enough to make him squirm before turning to his computer and typing the book into the directory.

He wasn’t always this grumpy. He was usually relatively civil and nice with people who asked for help but this time…well this time it was 2 in the morning, he was dealing with a pair of alphas (which never really bode well for him), and he’d honestly been contemplating taking a nap before they’d stepped inside but now that wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t as if there was anyone else there to get him in trouble for his behavior anyways.

“It’s checked out,” Derek grunted, turning back to the guy.

He made a face, looking over Derek’s shoulder and nodding his head in that direction.

“Could you maybe check the return pile? My friend really needs it,” he asked.

Derek sighed. He turned to the pile behind him—the one he’d been saving for a couple of hours from now when he’d get _really_ bored and was desperate enough to actually do work—and quickly scanned through the books there. There weren’t many as people didn’t really check books out too often here but he spotted the one he was looking for quick enough. Snatching it up, he scanned it into the system, waiting a second for it to register on the computer as ‘checked in’ and then held it out over the counter without looking away from the screen.

“Thanks,” the guy muttered, taking it from him gingerly, as if afraid that moving too fast would provoke Derek into…doing something.

Derek couldn’t help but find that image funny. An alpha afraid of an omega. Who would have thought?

He went back to his game, keeping a reluctant eye on the pair sitting across the room. Unfortunately, they were _slightly_ more entertaining than solitaire at the moment so he gave into the urge to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“You’re lucky I love you,” the guy was saying as he sat back at the table, dropping the stack of books he’d retrieved on its surface with a _thump!_ “I just risked my life to get you this stupid book.”

The girl sighed, looking up from her laptop. “What are you babbling on about?”

“I’m talking about Murder Brows over there,” he hissed quietly, unaware of the werewolf listening to everything he said. Derek frowned at the name, just barely resisting the impulse to touch his eyebrows.

“I’m sure it was a really scary for you,” she drawled.

“You didn’t have to bring me just to get your books, you know.”

“I didn’t. I told you already—I need your help. _That_ was just a bonus.”

The guy grumbled under his breath, scooting his chair closer to his companion to stare at her screen.

“What do you need help with?”

“Not with my school work, Stiles,” she huffed, shoving at his shoulder.

_Stiles? What the hell kind of name is that?_ Derek chanced a confused glance in their direction, relieved to see they were paying no attention to him.

“Okaaay…then what _do_ you need help with?”

“Boy stuff.”

The girl shrugged casually but even Derek could see how tense her shoulders were. He wanted to roll his eyes at the inevitability of a late night soap opera happening right here in his library but refrained.

“And we had to do that at 2 in the morning at the most boring library on campus—” both Derek and the girl glared at him for that comment, “—why?”

“Because,” she snapped finally, “my boyfriend of four years just broke up with me and I thought it would be nice to spend some time with one of my best friends.”

Derek winced at the ensuing awkward silence. Soap opera really hadn’t been too far off.

“Jackson broke up with you?” Stiles asked quietly.

She nodded curtly, still typing away at her computer before pulling one of the books closer and flipping through it. Stiles was watching her wearily, as if expecting another outburst (Derek would never admit it but he was preparing himself for the same) but when nothing came, he scooted closer to her again, leaning over and laying a hand on top of hers. Immediately, she froze in her task and sagged back in her chair.

“I don’t get it,” she finally said, voice barely above a whisper.

Derek felt a little bad because now he was actively making an effort to listen into their conversation but his curiosity won out over propriety.

“We’ve been fighting more than usual but I thought maybe it was just the stress of his parents moving but now he’s…” she trailed off, frowning down at where her hand was clasped between both of Stiles’.

“Don’t get mad but…how come you didn’t go to Allison for this?” he said. “I mean, she actually _liked_ Jackson so…”

The girl laughed a little, softly and without a lot of feeling and then heaved a huge sigh. “You know how she and Isaac are. They just moved in together so they’re still in the honeymoon phase.”

Derek couldn’t help but think of Laura and her relatively new boyfriend and silently agree. It was a bit sickening being around couples like that.

“I would have probably ended up strangling Isaac with one of his stupid scarves.”

Stiles let out a startled laugh which seemed to cheer his friend up just a little bit.

“Alright,” he said, turning to her pile of books. “What do you need to study, where do you need to find it, and what else can I do to help?” he said.

“I don’t actually need your help Stiles.”

“Well, I’m giving it to you anyway. I am pretty smart, too, you know.”

“Huh…funny. I remember a certain number eighteenth in our class—”

“Okay you know I have bad concentration.”

“Whatever you say.”

Derek didn’t even realize he was smiling until he looked up at his computer and saw his reflection.

******

So Derek had a problem.

He’d had his fair share of experiences with dating. And with alphas. Specifically with dating alphas. And well…it had never gone well for him.

There was Kate, the jealous pyromaniac. She also happened to be a hunter and tried to kill his entire family. He’d never really gotten over the guilt of having half his childhood home burn to the ground or Cora being forced to grow up with scars across her back. His family had long since forgiven him (they claimed there was nothing to forgive in the first place) but that didn’t stop him.

That’s why it took him until his third year of undergrad to try dating again. Jennifer was…a lot like Kate actually. Derek didn’t really understand what it was about him that attracted such crazy alphas but he liked to assume that all alphas were just a little but crazy (looking at his mother and Cora…that wasn’t a far stretch). At least this time nobody got hurt when Jennifer decided to go on a magic filled rampage.

After that, he refused to date anymore. Occasionally he would embark on a night out, maybe score a one-night stand but Derek started to keep to himself more than anything. He’d briefly had a thing with Braeden—a nomadic mercenary he met at a bar. It wasn’t so much dating as it was fucking and sometimes staying long enough to eat Chinese food together. She’d even helped him through a heat once (his first time spending one with someone else). She was one of the only alphas Derek had ever really trusted but eventually it was time for her to move on.

She texted him every once in a while to bother him. It was sort of nice.

Now, Derek wasn’t opposed to dating. He wouldn’t deny that the idea of having someone to cuddle with while they watched Netflix sounded quite appealing, but he had strong reservations when it came to the _who_ part of his binge-watching partner. He had a strict rule: no alphas. Unfortunately, this rule severely limited his dating pool.

There weren’t many omegas willing to date another omega and betas tended to stick to their own gender.

And then there was Stiles. Stiles Stilinski (and while Derek thought that name was ridiculous, he decided to stick with it when he saw the guy’s _actual_ first name printed on his school ID) who came to the library with his friend, Lydia, more and more as midterms came and went, who didn’t stop coming even when Lydia stopped accompanying him, who glanced at Derek curiously and so so obviously from his same table at the opposite side of the room, who tried every time he was there to hold some innocuous conversation with Derek no matter how argumentative Derek got. Stiles Stilinski who was an alpha and who Derek wanted more than anything, no matter how hard he tried not to.

“Hey, Derek.”

Derek blinked, vision slowly coming back into focus on Stiles’ nervous expression, standing far closer than he had been just a minute ago. He cleared his throat awkwardly, narrowing his gaze more out of habit than anything and turned to his computer.

“What do you want Stiles?”

He found himself adjusting his glasses anxiously, the ones he’d been forced to put on this morning when he didn’t have time to put in his contacts. Laura had always teased him for being a werewolf with glasses but apparently even supernatural healing abilities couldn’t cure far-sightedness. More than one person had complimented him on them before though and each time he wanted nothing more than to smugly shove it in Laura’s face. And maybe Stiles eyes had lingered on them the first time Derek wore them. Maybe Derek had been in too much of hurry to put his contacts in more and more lately.

Maybe he shouldn’t mention the glasses thing to Laura.

“I uh…”

“Do you actually need anything?” Derek asked, sighing as he rubbed at his eyes. He adjusted his glasses again and met Stiles’ eyes just in time to see them flit away in another direction.

“No not really,” Stiles said. “I just…I wanted to…you know what never mind.”

He exhaled heavily, sending Derek a weak smile and turning to walk back over to his table. And that was the thing about him. He was strange—unlike the typical alpha that Derek was used to. Most took their titles much too close to heart, strutting around with too much confidence and not enough human decency. Derek wasn’t naïve. He knew that alphas shouldn’t be judged by their gender (just like omegas) and that there were plenty out there who _were_ good, like his mom and Cora.

But he still couldn’t help but be intrigued by Stiles.

“Actually,” Stiles said, spinning back around, gripping the counter when he went a little too fast and meeting Derek’s gaze head on. “I have something to say.”

Derek’s brow raised slowly, a little incredulous and a lot amused. It was easy to liken the alpha’s statement to that of a five year old trying to argue with their parents and the imagery almost had him smiling.

“I want to…” Stiles seemed to run out of steam but then he picked himself back up. “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

And that…that was different than _any_ alpha Derek’s ever encountered.

He stared for a long moment, trying to process just what Stiles’ words actually meant while the man in question fidgeted restlessly, expression turning more and more nervous as the seconds ticked by. His hand found its way to the nape of his neck, rubbing at the muscle there. His teeth nibbled at his bottom lip, hard enough to turn it almost as white as his skin. His foot tapped out an uneven rhythm against the carpet, just loud enough to bring Derek out of his trance.

“You’re asking me on a date?” he said dumbly.

“I…uh—yes?”

Stiles shifted, frowning just the slightest bit. He winced as if afraid that he’d done something wrong but Derek didn’t make a sound, didn’t even budge from his seat.

Because this was completely unorthodox. Alphas didn’t ask omegas on dates right off the bat. That just wasn’t a thing. They announced that they would be pursuing the omega of their choice and then the omega could choose whether to accept their advances or deny them. Nobody just outright asked someone on a date without any sort of prelude.

And yet…Derek couldn’t remember ever having so many butterflies fluttering around his stomach without knowing a person through and through. The fact that Stiles had chosen to ask him on a date made him feel more like an equal than any alpha claiming him as their next pursuit ever had. Stiles’ presence begged for his attention. He didn’t demand it with an intimidating look and empty words like all the rest and yet Derek felt pulled to him anyways.

“Dude…you’re making me nervous,” Stiles mumbled, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Yes.”

His eyes widened.

“Wait, what? Yes?”

“Yes,” Derek repeated.

He couldn’t really bring himself to say anything else—he was still freaking out a little internally at the fact that he’d actually just said _yes_.

“Really?” Stiles blinked. “Actually no don’t answer that! I accept your ‘yes’ and raise you a lunch at Break Nook on Wednesday?”

“Okay,” Derek said.

“Okay…great! So…I’ll see you there. At like 1. I get out of class at 12:30 so…” Stiles waved his hands as he spoke, slowly walking backwards away from the counter. “If that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. See you at 1. On Wednesday. At Break Nook.”

Derek nodded and Stiles returned the gesture, grinning a little manically before turning where he stood and heading out of the library. Only then did Derek even notice that Stiles had packed his things into the backpack slung over one of his shoulders.

******

It took almost a full minute for Laura’s screaming to die down once he told her the news. Out of everyone, she was by far the most invested in his love life so he figured it would be a good idea to let her know he actually had one now. Judging by the rapid-fire questions that began to pour out of her mouth, he was willing to admit he might have been wrong.

“Laura. _Please_ ,” he begged through the phone.

She quieted for a moment and then honest to god giggled.

“I’m just really happy for you Der. You’re meant to be cuddled okay? You are a big teddy bear—” he scowled at that, “—who has been seriously deprived of some good ole cuddling over the past few years. But not anymore!”

He winced at the volume of her voice, pulling his phone away from his ear in hopes that a couple inches distance would keep his eardrum from popping.

“I’m not telling you his name,” he said smugly, enjoying the dramatic gasp that followed.

Then he hung up. The phone was ringing again only a couple seconds later but he simply turned it on silent and went back to his thesis. He’d been staring at it for a few hours—he’d called Laura mostly as a last resort when he got too bored and frustrated—and he only had about a page of writing to show for it. With a disgruntled sigh, he clicked over to Netflix instead.

Even halfway into an episode of X Files, he couldn’t concentrate. His brain felt foggy and he couldn’t get comfortable no matter how he sat. The air around him felt stuffy and difficult to breathe in, no matter how much he lowered his thermostat or how many fans he turned on. He entertained the idea that he could be getting sick but then dismissed it quickly. He hadn’t gotten sick since he hit puberty and his enhanced healing kicked in.

As he pulled out his guilty pleasure tub of rocky road ice cream, it hit him just what was going on and he almost dropped the whole carton on the floor (luckily he didn’t because he was really going to need it later). His first course of action was of course to call Stiles and tell him he wouldn’t be able to make it to their _date_ tomorrow but as soon as he snatched up his phone, he realized he’d never gotten the alpha’s number. He was tempted to toss his phone to the floor but refrained.

Instead, he called Laura.

“Thanks for hanging up on me asshole,” she greeted him haughtily.

“Laura. My date with Stiles is tomorrow and I’m starting my heat but I don’t have his phone number. What do I do?”

The line was silent for a long moment and then Laura broke into loud fits of laughter.

“What the hell, Derek?” she wheezed. “Don’t you keep track?”

“I do! It’s a few days early. I thought I would have until the weekend!” he exclaimed defensively.

“Okay, okay. Calm down. You’re just going to have to skip it and let him know next time you see him. If he’s a decent guy then he’ll understand.”

Derek frowned. The idea of leaving Stiles hanging felt…wrong. Sure, the situation was unavoidable but it was clear just from spending minimal time with the alpha that Stiles was a bit socially anxious. And Derek didn’t want to ruin his chances either. This was the first time that he’d really wanted to try with someone in a long time; he didn’t want Stiles to get mad at him and not give him another chance.

“I have to go.”

“Wait what?” Laura said, cutting off from whatever tangent she’d been on.

“I…um…I have to get off the phone,” Derek said. “You know. Get ready and everything.”

“Okay Der. If you need anything, let me know. Just…please don’t need anything.” Derek huffed a small laugh. “And don’t stress yourself out over _Stiles_.” Derek cursed himself for letting the name slip. “You don’t need that during your heat.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” he sighed.

He could picture her proud grin in his head as they said their goodbyes. She always had one when she felt she’d given him good advice or helped him in some way. The image was actually a little soothing.

He didn’t let himself feel guilty for planning to do the exact opposite of what she’d told him as he popped the top of his ice cream carton and ate a giant spoonful all in one bite.

******

Derek woke with a fever and the unmistakable feeling of wetness between his thighs. It wasn’t as bad as it would be by the end of the day but it was still enough to make him cringe at the sticky feeling. He took the time to get off in the shower, to hopefully take some of the edge off until he could meet Stiles and let him know what was going on.

The wait for 1 o’clock was long and taxing but he managed to fill the time with emailing his professors to let them know he’d be out for the next week and watching more Netflix. A cursory glance through his pantry and fridge relieved him of any worries pertaining to grocery shopping and he even managed to refrain from calling Laura and telling her exactly what he was planning to do. Even so, it didn’t stop his body from progressing further into his heat throughout the day. By the time he was leaving his apartment to meet Stiles, he was permanently flushed all across his face, neck, and shoulders and constantly fidgeting in an attempt to ignore the low rolling burn sitting in his stomach.

He saw Stiles before Stiles saw him. He paused for a moment outside the little restaurant Stiles had chosen, watching the way he tapped at the table he was sitting at with long pale fingers. His eyes kept glancing toward the door in wait, shoulders tensing every time somebody entered or even stood up from their table. Derek took a deep breath and walked inside.

Stiles’ eyes were on him immediately and as Derek drew closer, his nostrils flared and his eyes widened, pupils blowing up so much that they almost took over all of the warm golden brown color around them.

“Derek,” he choked out.

Derek winced. “I didn’t have your phone number and I didn’t want to just leave you here waiting,” he blurted out, holding his hands out in a sign of surrender. It was probably the most he’d ever actually said to Stiles in one go that wasn’t some sort of argument. But Stiles wasn’t even paying attention to him. Instead, he was looking around the room quickly before hesitating on something over Derek’s right shoulder, glaring in that direction, and standing from his table. The movement was enough to send his scent swiftly toward Derek and he felt his brain blank out for a moment.

“Derek, what are you doing here like this?” Stiles whispered.

He grabbed Derek’s arm gently, guiding him out of the diner when he didn’t make any movements toward the door, all senses firmly stuck on the heat of Stiles’ hand through his sweater.

“You need to…” Stiles swallowed. “You need to go home.”

“I didn’t want you to think that I stood you up,” Derek said dazedly.

“You could have told me after! Or had someone else tell me or something! I would have understood,” Stiles said. He was tense now, not meeting Derek’s gaze. He’d pulled away as soon as they were outside and was now making an effort not to touch him, hands hovering but never making contact. “Do you need a ride home? I don’t think it’s safe for you to be driving right now.”

“I walked,” Derek said, shrinking a little under Stiles’ incredulous look.

“Okay, okay. I’m driving you home,” Stiles mumbled, gesturing toward the blue jeep a few feet away. “How did you not know your heat was coming?”

“It’s early,” Derek said as he climbed into the passenger side.

“Okay, where are we going?”

He told Stiles his apartment complex and then lost track of the conversation after that. His eyes slipped shut and he leaned back in his seat, inhaling the scent of _Stiles_ that was everywhere within the old jeep. The rumble of the engine and sway of the car was almost enough to lull him to sleep but every few minutes, a dull ache flared to life within him and kept him from relaxing completely like he wanted to. His heat had barely started and he already felt tired from it.

“Hey,” Stiles called softly. “We’re here.”

Derek managed to get out of the jeep and shuffle into the building. Stiles followed him in, watching him nervously as they rode the elevator up in silence but his gaze only served to make Derek feel antsier. His scent was still affecting Derek; every time he inhaled, a new wave of want went through him.

“This is me,” Derek mumbled, glancing sluggishly toward his door. “Do you want to come in?”

Stiles shot him a stricken look and inhaled sharply as he ran a hand through his already messy hair.

“I want you to,” Derek continued, watching him.

“That’s just the heat talking Derek,” Stiles said.

He looked like it was taking everything he had not to change his mind and drag Derek through the door. But that was exactly what Derek wanted if he was honest with himself. He knew he didn’t really know Stiles all that well and it probably was partly the heat talking, but he also knew that he’d been attracted to Stiles for a long time now and that he really didn’t want to go through his heat alone.

“I like you,” Derek said. “I wouldn’t have agreed to a date if I didn’t.”

Stiles scrunched up his face in thought, studying Derek through his narrowed eyes for a long moment. Derek knew he’d won the moment Stiles’ Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.

“Please tell me you really really want this. I don’t want to do something you’re going to regret. And I don’t want to take advantage.”

Derek softened a little at that. Objectively he knew that those were things that all decent human beings should ensure with their partner but unfortunately it was pretty rare for alphas to actually do so. And Stiles had been nothing but accommodating and fair with Derek since the beginning.

“I really really want this,” Derek promised.

“Okay. Okay,” Stiles said, nodding a little frantically. “Okay but…wait, I—we haven’t even kissed yet. We haven’t even been on our date yet.”

Derek narrowed his eyes then swayed forward, pressing his lips to Stiles’ in a single lingering kiss. Once he’d pulled back, he found Stiles frozen, a little dumbfounded with half-lidded eyes and his mouth hanging open.

“Now we’ve kissed,” Derek said matter-of-factly.

“I guess that counts,” Stiles breathed.

Stiles was pushing him through the door as soon as Derek got it unlocked, using Derek’s back to close it behind them.

******

“Lydia is going to kill me when she finds out I did this.”

Derek mumbled noncommittally against Stiles’ arm, eyes remaining shut though fluttering in acknowledgement as best his exhaustion would allow him. Stiles’ thumb had been steadily rubbing his hip for almost twenty minutes now so he was actively fighting to stay awake at this point.

“I’m probably going to get an hour lecture about not taking advantage—”

“Didn’t take ‘dvantage,” Derek interrupted and Stiles snorted.

“Getting sleepy?” he asked.

“You wore me out.”

Derek could smell the pride rolling off Stiles at his comment but he let the alpha have his moment just this once. He wasn’t usually a big fan of controlling alphas but giving a little control over to Stiles, letting Stiles _take care_ of him was nice. The only time he ever really allowed that in bed was during his heat. He’d trusted Braeden enough the first time to let her take over and show him just how good heats could actually be. And now he was trusting Stiles. Maybe they hadn’t been on a real date yet, but he just knew he’d made the right decision.

“I didn’t break your glasses earlier, did I?” Stiles asked, shifting to look over the edge of the bed.

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“You sure? ‘Cause I’m going to feel really bad if I did. I mean I was just, like, in the moment or whatever and it felt right to throw them…until I actually threw them.”

“I can buy new ones if I need to.”

“Well, now I feel even worse.”

Derek heaved a terribly put upon sigh, pushing up onto his elbows to level a look at Stiles for a long moment and then lean in and kiss him slowly. It was sweeter than their previous frantic kissing, more like their first one out in the hallway and Derek felt something stir in his stomach. He didn’t think it was his heat this time, either.

“Are you good?” Stiles whispered between them when they parted.

That something in his stomach only grew stronger.

“Yeah. I’m good,” Derek whispered back. “Thanks.”

“Thanks?” Stiles laughed incredulously. “I get to have sex with the guy of my dreams for a week and _you’re_ thanking _me_?”

Derek’s lips twitched up despite his attempts to keep his expression unimpressed. He made up for it by leaning forward to kiss Stiles again, though that probably did nothing but prove just how gone he already was.

“Yes,” he said firmly. “Thank you.”

Stiles watched him curiously, opening his mouth as if to ask just what he meant by that but instead settled for a smile. He ran long fingers through Derek’s hair and Derek leaned into the touch, humming at the feeling of blunt fingers rubbing at his scalp.

He knew what Stiles had been about to ask. It was a bit of a relief that he’d decided not to follow through with his question but Derek couldn’t help but think that, even if Stiles had asked, he would have told him. And wasn’t that a scary thought.

As Stiles maneuvered them until they were spooning, saying they should nap so they’d have energy later with a dorky little eyebrow wiggle, Derek decided that maybe it wasn’t so scary at all. Maybe Laura had been right all along when she told him he should talk to people more.

Or maybe it was just Stiles.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday Katie <3


End file.
